Optical methods of determining the chemical composition of blood are typically based on spectrophotometric measurements enabling the indication of the presence of various blood constituents based on known spectral behaviors of these constituents. These spectrophotometric measurements may be effected either in vitro or in vivo. The measurements in vitro are invasive, i.e. require a blood sample to be physically withdrawn and examined. At present, these measurements have become unpopular, due to the increasing danger of infection.
The non-invasive optical measurements in vivo may be briefly divided into two main groups based on different methodological concepts. The first group represents a so-called “DC measurement technique”, and the second group is called “AC measurement technique”.
According to the DC measurement technique, any desired location of a blood perfused tissue is illuminated by the light of a predetermined spectral range, and the tissue reflection and/or transmission effect is studied. Although this technique provides a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio, as compared to the AC measurement technique, the results of such measurements depend on all the spectrally active components of the tissue (i.e. skin, blood, muscles, fat, etc.), and therefore need to be further processed to separate the “blood signals” from the detected signals. Moreover, proportions of the known components vary from person to person and from time to time. To resolve this problem, calibration must periodically be provided, which constitutes an invasive blood test and therefore renders the DC technique of optical measurements to be actually invasive.
The AC measurement technique focuses on measuring only the “blood signal” of a blood perfused tissue illuminated by a predetermined range of wavelengths. To this end, what is actually measured is a time-dependent component only of the total light reflection or light transmission signal obtained from the tissue. A typical example of the AC measurement technique is the known method of pulse oximetry, wherein a pulsatile component of the optical signal obtained from a blood perfused tissue is utilized for determining arterial blood oxygen saturation. In other words, the difference in light absorption of the tissue measured during the systole and the diastole is considered to be caused by blood that is pumped into the tissue during the systole phase from arterial vessels, and therefore has the same oxygen saturation as in the central arterial vessels.
The major drawback of the AC measurement technique is its relatively low signal-to-noise ratio, especially in cases where an individual has a poor cardiac output, insufficient for providing a pulsatile signal suitable for accurate measurements.
Various methods have been suggested to enhance the natural pulsatile signal of an individual for effecting non-invasive optical measurements, and are disclosed for example in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,055; U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,264; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,816. All these techniques utilize the artificially induced volumetric changes of either arterial or venous blood. Since each of these techniques is specific about the kind of blood under test, they all impose severe restrictions on the value of the artificially applied pressure. This is due to different “disturbing pressure values” allowed for different kinds of blood flow. It means that for each kind of blood flow, there is a pressure value that disturbs specifically this kind of flow much more than any other kind. For example, when the artificial pressure at a value of 60 mmHg is applied to a proximal body part, the venous blood flow will be affected, whereas the arterial blood flow will not be affected, since the individual's diastolic pressure is usually higher than 60 mmHg. The applied artificial pressure definitely should not exceed pressures causing substantial deformation of the tissue, since only blood flow changes are supposed to be detected by optical measurements, and the measurements are to be effected in synchronism with the artificial pulse. However, if such an artificially induced pulse causes uncontrollable changes of the optical properties of the tissue, these changes cannot be distinguished from those caused by the blood flow fluctuations which are the target of the measurements.